When the Night Conquers
by SunLight
Summary: Discontinued. A boy has an unconventional start to his journey and a malfunctioning pokeball model is released.
1. One: The introduction of Dorian

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ I haven't dabbled in this fandom since, I dunno, three years ago. Right now, I'm risking the chance of bombing five tests next week, writing and revising this story. I suppose that only means that this is a case where I _need_, as opposed to _want_, to write the story.

Please give it a chance and enjoy the chapter.

-

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**One**

It looked like an ordinary pokeball, a tool any beginner would take along on his journey, with the sole purpose of capturing pokemon. In fact, even seasoned trainers would be at a loss as to what else this particular instrument could accomplish.

Except this particular one wasn't just any particular instrument.

A man stood in the middle of the room, looking at it, and then at the clipboard in his hands. He was a very tall man, with blue eyes and golden hair, purporting him to be of another profession rather than a pokemon researcher. His eyebrows were knitted, as if in deep thought, but he looked up immediately when his assistant spoke.

"Well, Professor Chambers," Mary said, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly, "what do you think of it?"

"Very impressive," said Chambers, sounding genuinely impressed. "I hadn't thought the two of you capable in creating this from my blueprints in so short a period of time. And from the data here, I see that you have even conducted test trials of the product with several species." He laid down the clipboard. "I offer you my congratulations. I shall contact the companies tonight, to put these on markets within a month."

"Thank you very much, sir!" Mary and Russell said in unison.

They waited until the professor had left the room before exchanging a meaningful smile. Chambers had overlooked a detail, a small yet infinitely important detail.

- - -

The commotion at the playground of the Pokemon Academy ceased at once when a chestnut-haired boy of ten and a redheaded girl of thirteen stepped to the chalk-drawn arena at the center, positioning themselves for a battle. In a few seconds, everyone had formed a circle around the two, always eager for a live demonstration of pokemon "showdowns" that Roxanne and Thomas never allow in class.

"Two-on-two battle sounds okay to you, Anne?" the boy named Tyler called out, challenging the brightest pupil of the fourth-year Battling Class, very eager to prove himself. Because of his high test grades, his Pokemon license had been approved and he'd received his starter just two hours ago.

"Challenge accepted _gladly_," Anne said with dignity, her head tilted slightly to show that she was not afraid at all. After all, she was handpicked by Roxanne to become a gym trainer at the Rustboro Gym.

"All right!" squealed a younger girl, clapping her hands. "They are going to _battle_!"

As the commotion went on, a pair of large blue eyes peered out carefully from a nearby bush, fixing intently on the crowd.

Two pokemon were released in two simultaneous bursts of red light: a smaller-than-usual poliwag and an extremely-eager chikorita. Each of them had a banner draped around his body, indicating him to be the property of the Academy rather than the two pupils.

The silent watcher frowned, somewhat disappointed. He had hoped that Tyler would use the mudkip he'd received from Nurse Joy as his first pokemon. He shook his head as he crouched closer to the battle site, scraping his knees in the process. The pokemon wouldn't really matter in the long run, anyway.

For Dorian was eleven, having been let back a year because of his poor performance on tests and on simulated battles. And, because of his uncooperative attitude after being held back, he knew he would not be among the ones to be granted a pokemon license. But it was bad enough that he was a year older than all his classmates; he wasn't about to wait around another year. Besides, his instructor Thomas had hated him ever since he put delcatty poop on his chair.

Now, he was going to make his own destiny, starting by stealing a pokemon.

The battle commenced in a wave of cheers. Tyler acted first; he yelled out the command for a water gun attack. The poliwag hesitated briefly, having been insufficiently trained in this move. When Tyler shouted the command again, he jumped up into the air and released a burst of bubbles from his mouth.

"Well, good enough," Tyler said, his ears reddening.

However, Anne, who had had three extra years of training, knew what to do. "Dodge, Blossom, and use razor leaf!"

The chikorita, much better trained, agilely sidestepped the attack and leapt up into the after the poliwag, spinning the leaf atop his head to send a flurry of leaves at the tadpole pokemon. Before Tyler could tell him to protect himself, the poliwag had already been severely weakened, and began to fall toward the ground.

Behind the bushes, Dorian sprang into action. He had no time to waste, if he was going to catch the bus at eight-thirty. Even if he wanted that mudkip, he could not wait. Besides, having been excited by the battle, adrenaline was rushing through his body. This was his chance.

He took a pokeball from his pocket and threw it, trying to hit the poliwag.

Sadly, pokeballs did not function like that, not when the pokemon belonged to a pokeball already. Dorian, who never paid attention in his Practical Usages class, had forgotten. Therefore, the ball bounced harmlessly from the pokemon, and instead hit Tyler on the head.

Dorian gritted his teeth. _Then I guess I will have to do it,_ he thought, as the kids looked around to see where the ball could've come from.

Using his backpack as a weapon, he pushed his way through the startled crowd, knocked Tyler out of the way, just to time to catch the poliwag before he hit the pavement. Then, before the children and the chikorita could react, he tucked the pokemon under his arm and shoved a few younger kids aside to take off with all his might toward the school gate.

Tyler recovered first: "After him!"

"Blossom, use vine whip!" Anne shouted, in her best Officer Jenny voice.

Dorian gritted his teeth, as he stumbled closer and closer to the gate. He couldn't be caught. He just couldn't! He _had_ to make it before the chikorita use that attack!

Luckily for him, Blossom did not attack. He merely turned in puzzlement at his mistress, because he _couldn't_. Vine whip was an egg move, not part of a chikorita's natural move arsenal.

"Come on, come on!" Dorian urged himself, hurrying toward the bus stop. It was eight twenty-nine. If the bus came _now_ and if he made it, then he would be free.

Anne turned crimson, and mumbled out another attack name, although it was not loud enough to be heard. By then, Roxanne had appeared in the confusion, looking livid that her favorite student had allowed herself to be tempted by a playground scuffle. Nearly a hundred kids trying to explain what happened, all at the same time, did not help. It took nearly ten minutes for Roxanne to make sense of all the shrill voices, and by the time she acted to pursue the boy and the poliwag, all that was left of them was the banner with the words, _property of the Pokemon Academy,_ stamped across.

- - -

On the bus, the poliwag tried, yet failed every time, to reorient himself. For one thing, the boy was clutching him way too tightly, and the many potholes along the way to the suburbs made the ride very bumpy. Finally, after futile wriggling that only tightened the boy's hold, he decided to play dead until the bus stopped moving.

The vehicle slowed down as the scenery changed from buildings to farms, and it stopped with a screech. The boy shouldered his pack and stood up. He said something to the bus driver, and then stepped off.

The poliwag tensed. This was his chance.

Though he had been bred in the Academy, he never liked being a toy for those younger kids, who were incapable of training him properly. The poliwag was almost a year old, and he had barely gained two levels. It was bad enough that he had to put up with ten different owners a week; and now that he was apparently stolen by this boy whom everyone called "stupid", who was stupid enough to venture out the city, he wasn't about forego a chance to be free.

His chance came when the boy, after walking a few steps, grew tired of holding the poliwag. He raised the pokemon to his face, and said something with a winning smile on his face. The poliwag wasn't quite sure what he said—he hadn't been with humans close enough to learn much of the human tongue—but he guessed that it was something stupid all those other kids said. Something about "I'll be a pokemon master".

Not that he was trying to listen. As soon as he was face to face with the boy, he let out a strong burst of water gun that he didn't manage to release back during the battle.

The cold water did its magic. The boy began to sputter, and as he stumbled back, the poliwag slid out of his grasp, and took off. There was a river nearby—water pokemon were sensitive to the sound of the water—and if he could manage to jump in, he would be free.

It was fortunate that the river was not very far away, for there was no way that the short stubby legs of a poliwag could outrun a human boy. He jumped into the river just in time to avoid being grabbed, and he swam at full speed, while trying to dodge the pebbles the boy threw at him.

There was a splash behind him. The poliwag propelled himself faster. The human boy could swim. He dove under the water and hurried off as fast as he could.

When he surfaced again, the sun's position had shifted a bit more to the west, showing the passage of time. The poliwag looked behind him nervously; the boy was nowhere in sight. He'd lost him. The poliwag gurgled a few bubbles in celebration, and gingerly climbed out of the water, unknowingly trailing water behind him.

Fatigued from all the events of the last hour, the poliwag gurgled a few more bubbles, and, settling himself against the base of a tree, fell asleep.

- - -

Dorian was truly about to give up. The poliwag was such a fast swimmer that he'd lost the boy within a few minutes. Dripping and soaking, with his bag wet and heavy, Dorian had climbed despondently out of the water, wondering what he was going to do. He'd used up all his allowance for the bus ticket, and he was in some unfamiliar region at least ten miles from Rustboro. Anyhow, even if he could go back, he wouldn't, because his parents and the Academy would be angry with him.

And he would've stolen the poliwag for nothing.

Dorian had run away from home before. The last time, he had managed to stay out a week before his courage and money failed him. He also knew how to make booby traps for taillows and zigzagoons. If he couldn't find that poliwag, he could try to battle a pokemon himself and capture him. He didn't steal a few pokeballs from his sister Sarah for nothing!

At noon, the boy paused near a cluster of trees to take out his now soggy sandwich. He was on top of a hill, and he could already see the characteristic sign of the Pokemon Center at the bottom. A tentative idea began to form. _Maybe I could steal a pokemon when Nurse Joy isn't looking,_ he pondered, chewing the sandwich thoughtfully.

Then a bright smile spread over his face. It turned that he didn't need to steal another pokemon. For, just a few feet ahead of him, snoozing under a tree, was the escaped poliwag. He could recognize it because the poliwag still looked scratched from the razor leaf attack.

Carefully, Dorian set his egg sandwich down, and took his windbreaker from his bag. He crept closer and closer to the poliwag until he could see the poliwag's belly falling and rising from breathing. Then, with a yelp of triumph, he covered the pokemon with his jacket, and tried to pick him up.

The poliwag, however, had woken, and as soon as he realized what happened, he began to struggling, spraying bubbles and water gun through the material of the jacket at Dorian. This time, however, Dorian was ready. Though he was still scared of the attack, he gritted his teeth and held on to the kicking poliwag. After a few minutes of struggling, he managed to stuff him in his bag. He zipped the bag quickly and wondered if he should sit on it, just to be safe, but immediately jumped off, deciding that it wasn't a good idea.

He didn't want to _suffocate_ the poor thing.

After some deliberation, he did not zip the bag all the way, thus leaving a hole for the pokemon to breathe. Then, before the poliwag could figure out some other way of escaping, he hugged the bag to his chest and began a careful descent on the muddy path to the Center; he could persuade Nurse Joy to help him put the pokemon in a pokeball.

- - -

Nurse Joy was on the videophone, chatting animatedly with someone, when the muddy boy stumbled inside the Center. Apologetically, she gestured toward a chair for him to wait.

"I'm sorry, I've been chatting too long," Dorian heard her say. "Let me see, let me just place the order now. I've got someone waiting."

"Of course. Sorry to take up so much time. How much would you like?" the man on the videophone answered. His voice sounded vaguely familiar. Dorian, however, was too tired to bother recognizing it.

"I'll take thirty of them, just to see how they are. They sound really intriguing, Professor Chambers…"

Somewhere in the distance, Dorian could hear the click as Nurse Joy finally hung up.

"Can I help you?"

Nurse Joy's voice began to fade as his eyelids drooped. And eleven-year-old Dorian Chambers did not hear Nurse Joy asking him if he were all right, as he slipped off into a comfortable nap.

-

_A/N:_ Out of curiosity, can anyone already tell where I'm going with this? Am I being a little too unsubtle?

Well, if there is anything about the story that can use improvement, please point it out. I have written other fanfics before, and I find constructive criticism to be immensely helpful. I mean, I cannot expect my first try at an OT story to be perfect, now can I?

Point out any mistakes concerning grammar, syntax and style, or characterization and plot.

Thank you for taking time to read (and hopefully, review?)

Love, SunLight


	2. Two: A meeting with Jacqueline

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ I'm really happy to get positive feedback for the first chapter! It made writing it all the more worthwhile! (Grin) I'm also glad you took the time to write some constructive criticism, which helped me revise the first chapter.

Before we start, I just want to address one concern you guys raised. A few of you mentioned Anne's chikorita, and why it has a nickname that's Blossom. Well, why and who gave chikorita the nickname (no, not Anne) have plot significances later.

Although, I'll be the first to admit that I _stink_ at giving meaningful nicknames (just wait until you see poliwag's nickname next chapter).

-

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**Two**

"We have an egg," the old woman said, when her husband came in from training. "Third egg this week."

The old woman's tone sounded neutral; eggs were not unusual, as pokemon very rarely gave birth to live babies. Yet she wore a resigned look on her face, though the discovery of an egg was a supposed cause for celebration, in the eyes of the optimistic.

Except, of course, those same trainers usually dismissed the other side of the matter.

"Does the trainer know?"

The woman smiled sardonically. "She just left."

"Then she didn't want it, I suppose," the old man predicted correctly, his eyes briefly turning to the shelf of un-hatched eggs. Some of these dated from as much as a few months ago, as the room temperature was simply not high enough to hatch so many eggs at once. Even if the babies were to hatch, they would need special nourishment, which the old couple was unable to provide—not for all these eggs. And eggs that did not hatch within a few weeks of their births become stale and die.

Then there were the baby pokemon that the trainers hatched, but brought back. No real surprise; every trainer wanted perfect stats, perfect nature, perfect gender, so this was probably natural selection in another form, for trainers to disregard the weaker in favor of the stronger.

Yet trainers never stopped breeding. It was the easiest and cheapest way to raise a strong pokemon. _A formula, if you will,_ the old man thought, not without bitterness. _Put two pokemon with the right stats and moves in the mixing bowl that's the breeding center. Then pet your pokemon on the head and hint a few things about babies and eggs, and voila!_

The man shook his head, and came to a conclusion. "Let's call the center outside Mauville," he said, returning the sentret he had been training for a trainer who disliked normal pokemon. "I'm pretty sure they have room for a few more eggs."

"Sounds good," his wife said tonelessly, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

This would do. For now.

After all, the old couple had gotten used to this cycle of breeding and abandoning, although they remained disturbed that so many young pokemon weren't given a chance.

Yet _they_ never complained, for that was how they made money.

- - -

Dorian woke up groggily to the sounds of trainers talking. He sat up and was startled to see a sea of darkness outside the windows; night had apparently fallen while he was sleeping. The Pokemon Center was now ablaze with lights, with a lot more trainers lounging around to pass the night.

The sight of the trainers' pokemon reminded him suddenly of the poliwag. He reached for his bag and unzipped it, and stared.

His bag had been wet from the poliwag's water gun and bubbles, but now it—as well as most of the items inside the bag—was dry. And the pokemon was nowhere to be seen.

Now Dorian was completely awake. He felt stupid for having fallen asleep so soon. Of _course_ the poliwag would escape! And of _course_ Nurse Joy would let him, because, well, she was Nurse Joy. _And now she's going to report me!_ Dorian thought, eyeing the darkness outside as if he expected to see a police car turn in. _I'm going to be arrested!_

However, despite his pessimistic predictions, Dorian knew that he had to ask. Worse comes to worse, he would steal a pokemon or two from Nurse Joy's storage room—or even kidnap a chansey, if needed—and run off into the mountains and train till he was a pokemon master and could beat everyone and—

Dorian stopped his thoughts as he approached Nurse Joy. Maybe he was getting ahead of himself.

Just a tad.

Nurse Joy was speaking pleasantly with another trainer. "Thank you, your pokemon are all healed," she said sweetly, handing over a tray of ultraballs, then bowing a bow customary to her trade. "We hope to see you again," she added, before turning to Dorian cheerily. "Hello, and how may I help you?"

"Um, well," said Dorian, "I had a poliwag in my bag—because I messed up the pokeball, you know—and he's not there anymore, and I was wondering if you'd seen him."

He groaned involuntarily as he finished. A perfect time to have his lying skills thrown out of the window!

But Nurse Joy did not dash to the videophone to call the police. Instead, she gave a wide grin. "Oh yes, the poliwag," she said, nodding. "Yes, he was wandering off. I think he was trying to go outside, but my chansey calmed him down. He had a few minor wounds on his shoulders, but don't worry, I treated them."

Dorian was perplexed. He actually hadn't been thinking about the damage his poliwag must've gotten from the chikorita. "Oh, right," he said, "but where is he now?"

"At the Center's swimming pool out in the garden," Nurse Joy said. "Do you know where it is?"

"Not…exactly."

Nurse Joy smiled, as if in understanding. "Down the corridor, take the first door out, and you can't miss it," she said, before turning to the next trainer. "Hello, how may I help you?"

- - -

Dorian was impressed by the sheer size and beauty of the garden. There were many shrubs of flowers and bushes, with a few occasional birdbaths here and there; and, to make it all the more entrancing to an aspiring trainer, there were many pokemon play about, both wild and tamed ones.

He had certainly never seen anything like this. The Pokemon Center in Rustboro was much less glamorous, and certainly did not have room for a garden _and_ a swimming pool, since all the buildings were meshed too closely together.

He was even more impressed by the pool. He had never been to a real swimming pool before, except for the wading pool at the Academy. But this pool was much larger, so big Dorian could barely see where its boundaries. And there were more water pokemon than Dorian could've remembered at ever seeing in one setting.

Dorian gawked at the pokemon for a moment, imagining that he owned them all, before he remembered that he was here for a poliwag. He glanced around, but didn't see him among the barboach, tentacool, magikarp, clamperl, and even two or three gyarados.

_Could he have run away?_ Dorian wondered, since there didn't seem to be any security cameras about. But a second later, he realized he was wrong, for his poliwag was running toward him.

And to his immense surprise—and soon, pride—the poliwag hopped up into his arms, just like those loyal pokemon in the comics and television programs.

"Hello there," Dorian said, trying to remember what the pokemon trainers on television shows would say. "I hope you had a nice, long rest. Are you ready to get goin—"

A burst of water gun shot out of nowhere, and when Dorian managed to blink the water out of his eyes, his poliwag had dropped to the floor, wagging his tail and looking very pleased with himself.

It took a while before Dorian could recover.

"This is the last time I'm going to fall for your trick, you!" he shouted, very righteously angry. "You don't treat your trainer with disrespect!"

The poliwag seemed amused to see Dorian's face all red. "Poli, poli!" he said, hopping around.

Dorian was surprised that he had no idea what the poliwag had just said. He'd always thought that trainers had the innate ability to understand pokemon, even though he could never understand the family delcatty. "Wh-what?" he said.

"Poli, poli_wag_," the poliwag said, cocking his head.

"Say it _right_!" cried a frustrated Dorian. "You are being too, er, incoherent!"

The boy and the pokemon glared at each other, each one unrelenting—and the poliwag gurgling bubbles—until a burst of laughter broke the self-imposed trance. The two turned around, for once in unison, to see a dark-haired trainer who had evidently been watching the entire scene.

Dorian's ears turned red. "Stop laughing!" he said sharply, waving his fist. "Stop _now_! Or I'm going to punch you!"

While it worked on little girls on the playground, and sometimes even Anne and Melissa, it didn't work on the girl. But then again, the girl was very tall—taller than even Roxanne—that she had to be one of the _older_ people. "I'm not laughing at just you, kiddo," she said, folding her arms. "I'm laughing at you _and_ the poliwag."

The poliwag gurgled a few more bubbles. "Poli, poli," he said.

"You _are_ laughing at _me_?"

"That's what I just said," the girl answered. "You and your poliwag."

"So what do you want, huh?" Dorian said, still trying to act tough. "Oh, I bet I know. You want to battle me and lose to me!"

The poliwag perked up at the word "battle", although he hopped away from Dorian.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I _was_ getting kind of bored back inside," the girl said. "A battle sounds like a fun way to pass time. So, how about a double battle? Oh, bad manners. My name is Jacqueline Dubois, by the way. What's yours?"

"Dorian," Dorian said tersely. "And I can't battle."

"Why not? Weren't you just the big-shot a while ago?" the girl said, fingering the two pokeballs clipped to her belt. "We aren't battling for money, if that's what you're worried about."

"I don't have two pokemon," Dorian answered. "This poliwag is the only one I've got. Although I'd cream you before you know it, if we are going to fight one-on-one."

Jacqueline raised her eyebrow.

"Well, not today though," Dorian said quickly. "I'm too tired to deal with you right now."

"I see." Jacqueline appraised the poliwag, smiling faintly. "Well, since you are a newbie, _and_ you got a type disadvantage against me. You might as well just forfeit…so I'll let you go easy this time." She looked at her watch. "It's too dark to see out here anyway. Why don't we go into the dining hall and grab a bite instead?"

"I don't hang out with girls," Dorian said, wrinkling his nose.

"Well, kiddo, afraid you got to put up with that," Jacqueline said, very much amused. "You see, _I_ like you a lot. At least you don't _stare_ at certain places when you eat next to me."

"Certain places?"

Jacqueline shook her hand. "Never mind," she said. "Come on. I've always wanted to supper next to an aspiring pokemon master."

"You think so?" said Dorian, flattered.

"Yup," Jacqueline said, pinching his cheeks and earning a scowl. "I'll even offer you my chocolate cake. How's that?"

The poliwag began to jump up and down at the word "cake".

"Okay," Dorian said quickly. "I want a big slice."

Jacqueline grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? I already saw the chansey pushing the trolleys out!"

And so, with the prospect of a chocolate cake on his mind, Dorian and his poliwag followed Jacqueline and the scent of meatloaves inside the Pokemon Center.

- - -

"A total of twenty Pokemon Centers have ordered," Mary said, "mainly from Kanto and Johto. Only three of them are from Hoenn, and one of them is pretty far removed center." She looked at her partner with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe this calls for a change of plans?"

"It doesn't really matter," Russell said. "The balls won't start malfunctioning till three months into their usage, and by that time, they would have won wider appeal."

"So we're done?"

There was a tone of incredulity in Mary's voice.

Russell gave her a warning glance. "You do know that that's the only part we're expected to hold up."

Mary glanced at the calendar. "Then—"

"Yes," Russell said, starting to smile. "Yes. _Yes._"

- - -

Dorian was at first uncomfortable to eat in the dining hall. Not only because he was sitting next to Jacqueline, but also because he was the youngest one there. Having been used to being the biggest and meanest bully on the playground, he simply wasn't used to being a tiny trainer in a roomful of teenagers.

However, naturally a loud person, and his tongue loosened by chocolate cake and meatloaves, he soon began to relax and regain his normal composure.

Which includes stealing seconds and thirds, as well as coercing more cake from Jacqueline.

"So you're eleven?" Jacqueline said, when they both had finished eating.

Dorian nodded, mouth still stuffed full of cake.

"You've trained for a year, then!"

"Er…yeah, sort of," Dorian said, swallowing. "I mean, you know, I got sick midway and couldn't train my poliwag, so I got delayed and everything."

Jacqueline laughed. "You're lying," she said. "I can guarantee that I've never seen you around here before."

Dorian colored. "Maybe I'm not from around here," he said.

"But that's not how rookie trainers work, kiddo," Jacqueline said. "They prefer to stay in the same region, even more than us older ones. Besides, you are still wearing your school uniform. Pokemon Academy, is it? That's in Rustboro City, which is only around twenty miles away from here."

Dorian failed to make a connection. "Then…then how old are _you_?" he demanded in order to change the subject.

"I'm eighteen, so I've been a trainer for quite a long time," Jacqueline said. "Although I had been training in France for three years, since they have better academies for double-battling."

"But eighteen is really old," Dorian said, frowning. He looked around the room. Now everybody else looked even older. "Aren't you guys all supposed to be gym leaders and league champions by now?"

After all, he remembered that Roxanne became the gym leader when she was around fifteen.

Jacqueline shrugged. "I know most of the people here, and they aren't that great," she said, scanning the room. "Most of them don't even train anymore. Let's see if there are any exceptions. Hmm. Over there is Brandon. He has a machamp and thinks he can rule the world. Then that's Ramona. She's pretty sure that she'll beat everyone once her swablu evolves, but she's younger than us, so she hasn't been disillusioned yet. Over there is Henrique, who hasn't trained since his doduo evolved, but then he's twenty already." She paused. "Well, they are pretty much the only ones who still bother trying."

"That's kind of boring."

"It depends on your point of view, really," Jacqueline said. "Many of us go on the journey just to get a rare pokemon or two, and maybe two or three badges to prove we don't stink."

"Then you train at home?"

"We still go to the leagues and watch, and we still hang around the Pokemon Centers."

"That's it?"

"Well, no," Jacqueline said. "Then we go back to school and get a job. That's why you don't see many older trainers either."

"Oh." Dorian wondered if that was going to happen to him. It sounded pretty horrible, having your pokemon grow and evolve, and just give up automatically. "So what about the pokemon? They just stay in the pokeballs?"

"Yeah, if they aren't the trophies," Jacqueline said lightly, as she bent down to feed her minun a pokeblock. "Pokeballs last for a long time, and it takes pokemon a long time to die of inactivity. 'sides, everyone likes to brag about how he or she had once gone on a pokemon journey. We might still keep one or two trophy pokemon to showcase or maybe breed."

Dorian thought about it. Jacqueline made everything sound so…mundane and _not_ glorious. He looked at his poliwag, busy socializing with a female wooper at the other side of the dining hall. He decided he still had a long way to go before he could showcase a common pokemon such as a poliwag.

"What happens to the new trainers, then?" he asked, thinking of Tyler. "Are you basically saying that none of us can make it?"

"I didn't really say that. But most of you do need a reality check, you know." Jacqueline shrugged. "It depends a lot on pokemon and luck, whether you can make it or not." She stood up and stretched. "So, kiddo, think you got what it takes?"

"_Obviously_," Dorian said stubbornly, and he refused to have uncertainty show in his voice.

And being an eleven-year-old, he soon forgot nearly everything Jacqueline said five minutes later.

- - -

Boarding at a Pokemon Center was thankfully free, especially since this Pokemon Center had many rooms. Before he slept, Dorian wondered what was happening back at Rustboro. He hoped Officer Jenny didn't put out search warrants for him.

But then again, other people had stolen pokemon before, and their families only had to pay fines. That was just how things worked in a big city like Rustboro. Which was good, because his mother could put down a check for a few hundred dollars without blinking.

Dorian's thoughts were interrupted by someone began to shout in the next room.

"Return, Nightmare. Return, _return_."

He sat up to listen, barely discerning a pokemon thumping in the room, before finally he heard the sound of a pokemon being returned.

"You all right there?" Nurse Joy called, passing by.

"Yeah," someone said sharply. "Just a houndour acting silly."

Dorian shook his head. And he thought it was something weird. Pokemon act silly all the time! For example, it had taken him two chocolate bars to get the poliwag to stay with him in the room, and two more so he wouldn't try to drown Dorian.

_People make huge deals out of everything._

As he slipped under the covers, he had already set aside the incident in the back of his mind.

But just before he slipped into dreamland, images of the pokemon playing merrily in the water surfaced, contrasting with the sharp voice calling a pokemon back into the pokeball.

-

_A/N:_ By the way, just in case Jacqueline got on anyone's nerves (I'll admit that I don't like her much), she **isn't** going to be Dorian's traveling buddy; she symbolizes one of those trainers in the games and shows who never get anywhere.

Get it?

Never mind. I think you'll get the hang of my so-called symbolisms after the next or the one after next chapter, when the pace picks up a tad.

So like the last chapter, I will ask you guys to point out grammar and spelling and whatever mistakes I have. I'm not a native speaker, so I get confused by idiomatic expressions. (blush) Also, my plot may be confusing in some places, and it'd help if I can fix it!

Thank you for taking the time!

Love, SunLight

Thanks to the reviewers of Ch.1:

**fang—**they'll get along, I promise.

**Firey Feline—**thank you very much for your praise on my grammar and summary. ) As for whether he'll join Team Aqua, that's an interesting idea, although Dorian won't mature enough for that.

**Negrex**—wow, detailed review! Me like ). I agree with most of what you said, and I fixed the first chapter on my computer according to your specifications. The chikorita…well, for now, I'll just say he's been here longer than poliwag, and that's all the clues I shall give.

**Facia—**thanks for pointing out what you like and what you don't like. I hadn't thought about Chambers in the same way as Oak and Birch (give out starters), but I see what you mean. (blush) About poor Blossom, now you know my dark secret…I can't give proper nicknames. I'm slightly confused about what you mean on the egg moves, although right now the vine whip thing is just to make fun of Ash and his chikorita.

**Antithesis—**thanks for your good luck. It must've worked because I know I passed at least 3 of them. Were there typos? Eep. I hope there are less in this one. (goes back to first chapter to look)


	3. Three: Now Sarah

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ And here's the third installment! And it's not as pseudo-philosophical as chapter two. Nobody losing interest, I hope, because here the action starts!

The rating has gone up to PG-13, because as I was talking to my brother about the plot, he suggested something that will make it rather disturbing towards the middle. (cackles) In fact, you'll already see a tiny peak of that iceberg in this chapter.

Furthermore, in case anyone is interested or confused or whatnot, I name my chapters after the OC (original characters) for a reason other than to cram you with new characters. Right now, it's to help you keep track.

Just remember this one fact: it's not the characters' first appearance, but _their second appearances_ that count.

With that said, I present chapter three (Sarah).

-

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**Three**

_Good News for the Pokemon community! New product setting for the PokéMarts!_

_-_

_Professor Igor Chambers has confirmed that next month, he will be releasing a new type of pokeballs to the markets, a pokeball currently dubbed the control ball by his associates._

"_It actually works very much as its name implies," Chambers says. "The ball is made to provide maximum comfort and stigmatization to the pokemon within, so when he is released for battle, he will be in perfect control of his capabilities, rendering him especially eager to take down any opponent."_

_According to his assistants, during the testing a process, a magikarp captured inside the "control ball" managed defeat a fully-grown raichu solely on the ball's merit._

"_It also has other advantages," Chamber says. "It can capture anything from a weak pidgey to a stronger snorlax, with nearly perfect success rate just short of a master ball's. It is also nearly unbreakable and is much more durable than all other models we have. Although it lacks the happiness factor, as in the luxury balls, I guarantee that your pokemon's loyalty will only grow faster."_

_However, expectant trainers will not be able to get the balls yet. "We have five prototypes as of now," Chambers reveals. "We are changing the settings of our machines to allow quicker productions, and we'd like to have a stable supply before we market them."_

"_We also want to test for mistakes," says Mary Wilkes, one of his chief assistants. "Therefore, we can provide the best services possible to trainers."_

_-_

_Well, what are you waiting for?_

_Place your orders now! Supply may not last!_

- - -

"Father!" thirteen-year-old Sarah Chambers shouted, happily greeting her father at the door. "Congrats! You're on the newspaper!"

Chambers smiled at his daughter. "Ah, news travels fast, I see," he said, letting Sarah hug him enthusiastically.

"The 'control balls' sound incredible," Sarah said, "but I'm glad you can be finally home now. We haven't seen you for the longest time, and Mother has much to discuss with you!"

"I can't wait," Chambers said neutrally. He began to head toward the parlor, but he stopped to take out a package from his briefcase to hand to his daughter. "Here, I brought you a present."

Sarah looked at him in surprise. He hadn't brought her presents since she began school, because she deemed that childish. But she was secretly pleased nonetheless. "Thank you, Father," she said, opening the box curiously. Inside were two pokeballs, so bright that they gleamed more than Mrs. Chambers' diamonds. "Are these—?"

Chambers nodded. "I thought it's only fair if my kids have two of the first balls produced," he explained. "Have fun with them."

He left the room and, in a few minutes, Sarah heard low voices conversing in the parlor. She returned her attention to the 'control balls'. They felt strange yet oddly powerful in her hands, and she wanted to try them out. But Sarah only had a combustken from her failed journey, who didn't need a new ball…

Donna, the family delcatty, slipped into the room then. She lightly bounded up to Sarah, licking her hand affectionately. Sarah looked down at the balls, hesitated briefly, and lay her hand quietly on the delcatty's head.

- - -

"I'm sorry, Dorian," Nurse Joy said apologetically, giving the pokeballs back to Dorian. "I've been trying for three days, but unless the pokemon's original pokeball is destroyed or replaced, I'm afraid there isn't another way to re-capture your pokemon without biologically altering him."

Dorian sighed as he retrieved his pokeballs. He should've known, really, that Nurse Joy wouldn't be able to find a way. She was a nurse, not a researcher. He regretted the two days he wasted at the Center, when he could've been going somewhere. Even Jacqueline and most of the older trainers had left for a nearby tournament.

Besides, he had gotten no training done except perhaps learning to withstand a poliwag's water gun. Not to mention, he still hadn't figured out where he would go. The only good thing, he reflected, was that the Rustboro police probably gave up on him.

"Well, thank you anyway, I guess," he said insincerely, glaring at the triumphant-looking poliwag. "The thing is, I'm not sure how I can take him around with me if he doesn't obey me."

"Loyalty comes as a result of the time you spent together," Nurse Joy said, smiling. "A pokemon can sense from your actions if you love him or not."

Dorian did not bother to ask her for clarifications. He didn't need to hear another one of Nurse Joy's speeches. "But meanwhile, he doesn't like me at all," he said, as the poliwag began to rub against Nurse Joy's cheek. "He'll run away. What should I do?"

Nurse Joy thought for a moment. "I don't think he'll run away, because he'll find out that he's better off with a trainer. The best thing to do now is just to walk with him," she said. "You can have him ride on your shoulder too. I think this is even better for bonding, since your poliwag obviously prefers to be outside rather than inside." She giggled as the poliwag licked her hand. "He's a sweet little fellow."

_Yeah, but not around me,_ Dorian thought, remembering what happened yesterday, when he tried to fight a girl with a magby. The poliwag just ran away when the magby released a flamethrower, so that Dorian nearly got scorched by the unexpected assault. "Yeah, whatever, I guess," he said, shouldering his pack. "I'll be leaving now."

Nurse Joy nodded and handed the reluctant poliwag against the counter. "Do you need a map?"

"Yes, that'd be great," Dorian said. "Is there a gym nearby, by the way?" he asked curiously, as he took the town map Nurse Joy handed him.

"Not one of the eight major gyms, but there are smaller gyms that are newly constructed," Nurse Joy said. She pointed at the map. "Here, the closest one to where you'll be heading, is a bug gym. Obsidian Town. The leader is a graduate of the Academy, I believe. She's a good practice for the newer trainers. You should definitely try."

Dorian looked at the gym critically. Even on the map, it looked sort of imposing, like Roxanne's ship. But he decided that once he caught another pokemon and trained him, he would have no trouble. "Then that's where I'm going," he said, turning to his poliwag. "Are you with me, poliwag?"

The poliwag cocked his head, and sprayed his trainer with water gun.

- - -

Dorian shifted the pack on his shoulders. It was very heavy, probably resulting from the free food he tried to stuff in. Of course, the baking sun and the stuffy air did not help a bit. He sighed; at least the poliwag wasn't trying to run away again, since he was busy chasing after a seedot that accidentally knocked into him.

The town he had come from, according to the map, was Apricot Town, though he hadn't actually seen any apricot trees. Then again, he wasn't really paying that much attention to the berry trees around, since the town was too isolated and rural to be of much interest. There were no pokemon except for a few seedot here and there, no shops except for an occasional abandoned food stand, no anything else except street signs rendered illegible by graffiti.

Instead, there were just stretches of greenery, rivers, and humidity. And even the whole "nature" effect, which his mother would adore, was spoiled only by the paths, worn from the footsteps of many trainers. Dorian didn't understand why anyone would bother coming here. It couldn't be just for the Pokemon Center.

In fact, it would seem like a _ghost town_, had there not been such a modern and large Center. But of course, Dorian did not bother thinking into that.

- - -

On another route, Tyler was stepping out of Rustboro City, his own pack slung over his shoulders. He felt pretty darn good; he'd just beaten Roxanne with his mudkip, and good riddance too! Roxanne had punished him for _provoking_ Anne and delayed his pokemon master quest for a day!

And _anyone_ knew that ten-year-olds had no patience to wait that long.

_Oh well,_ Tyler thought, as he unhooked the two pokeballs from his belt, _at least I got Dorian back for what he did._ After all, Dorian had unwittingly given Tyler a free pokeball when he stupidly tried to capture that poliwag.

That very pokeball now held Tyler's poochyena.

Tyler didn't think it was wrong to just take the ball rather than to give it to Roxanne. Hey, Dorian stole a pokemon—a pokemon Tyler was taking care of—so it was only right that Tyler took something from him in return, wasn't it? Besides, it wasn't as if Tyler physically stole it…Dorian just never had time to retrieve it…and Tyler needed to save two hundred bucks!

Now that Tyler looked at the pokeball, he thought it looked very shiny. Very smoothly polished. Almost a bit like the control balls that were being advertised, but surely Dorian couldn't have those balls…

The city was farther and farther behind, and Tyler was nearer and nearer to the mountains. There were no trainers around, and very few pokemon.

He decided to release his pokemon for company. Maybe bond with them, because when he was a champion, he wanted everyone to remark on how nice he was.

"C'mon out!"

The mudkip materialized first, yawning as he softly fell on the ground. Tyler smiled as he patted the mudkip on the head. His starter pokemon was very sweet and had fought admirably against Roxanne's nosepass.

The poochyena took much longer to materialize. Long after the pokeball had burst open, the red light was still forming into the form of the puppy pokemon. Tyler waited, while his mudkip began to run around.

That was when Tyler realized that something was wrong.

Or _felt_ it, rather, because nothing was visibly wrong with the poochyena.

Tyler frowned at the pokemon. She had been extremely shy and timid, probably how he'd managed to catch her so easily. And then she took a liking to him so quickly that Stephanie said the poochyena had a crush on him.

Now…

"Hey there, Furball," Tyler said, cautiously stretching out his hand. "Is something wrong?"

Furball snapped, growling.

Tyler withdrew his hand, swallowing nervously. He began to step away, but everything happened too quickly for him to react. Even if he could have shouted for help, there was nobody around to help him, and his mudkip wasn't paying attention.

Instead, there was only a stifled scream before everything was silent. When the mudkip turned around, everything had happened already. All that was left of his master and Furball was an extremely shiny pokeball rolling slowly, before falling over the cliff.

The mudkip began to cry out, frightened.

Nobody, not even Tyler, had—or would—guess that the pokeball Dorian had dropped happened to be a three-month-old control ball prototype.

- - -

When his watch read 11:43, Dorian called to the poliwag to stop for lunch. The poliwag, probably feeling hungry himself, abandoned the fortunate seedot and came back, waiting for his chocolate and surprising Dorian with his obedience. As he began to munch on his own sandwich, he looked at the map, wishing more than ever that he had a Pokégear or a PokéNav, as the maps on these machines were more readable.

The gym was not close at all. To get to Obsidian Town, he had to consistently walk east for around ten miles, go through another town named Aquamarine, and then go north five miles. Dorian shook his head; this legend was impossible. The cartographers obviously didn't think about eleven-year-old boys who had no sense of direction.

Resolving to trust his instincts instead, Dorian put away the map and decided to talk to the poliwag, who was after all his only company. In any case, he would need to make friends with him…since that was what all pokemon masters would do. Then again, Dorian had tried this on various occasions during his stay at the Center, and it hadn't worked very well.

The poliwag, meanwhile, had finished the chocolate, and was now eyeing another seedot interestedly. He did turn when Dorian called.

"Hey, you," said the boy.

The poliwag cocked his head. He understood that. "Poli, poliwag, wag, wag, poliwag!" he said in return, his own way of saying "Hey, you dork! Are you trying that again?"

Dorian tried to understand what he was saying. How did the others do it, anyway? He only heard the poliwag repeat his name. "Um, yeah, sure," he said uncertainly, scratching his head. "Well, so how do you like the weather? Fancy carrying my backpack for me for a while?"

"Poli, poli, poli," said the poliwag.

"I know you don't like me, but I don't like you either, you know."

"Poliwag, wag."

Dorian groaned. This was turning out just like all the times before. How did Jacqueline and all the others communicated, anyway? _That's right, they gave their pokemon nicknames! Maybe that would help._ "Hey, poliwag," he said, knowing that the poliwag was unlikely to understand what he said. "Do you want a nickname?"

Nickname. The poliwag perked up automatically; pokemon were genetically programmed to respond to certain keywords, and "nickname" was one of them. "Poli!" he said, and even though Dorian couldn't understand what he said, he could tell that the poliwag did not seem to mind.

"Hmm, let's see," said Dorian. "I don't know what to call you though. I could call you something silly, like Blossom, or I could…"

He went into deep thought, going over the names he knew in his head. Unlike his sister, he never bothered reading baby naming books, and didn't know that many names, besides those of his friends and family. But he didn't want to name his poliwag something like John or…Buck or something.

"Poli!" cried the poliwag impatiently. "Poli!"

"Be quiet!" Dorian snapped. "Can't you see that I'm thinking?"

He should've known better than to use that tone of voice. The poliwag sprayed him with water gun.

"Okay, gee, sorry," Dorian said, rubbing his face in annoyance. "You are just like a girl, you know? Pepper spraying everyone whenever you aren't happy. Just like my sister."

"Poliwag," was the reply, and the pokemon positioned himself for another attack.

Dorian didn't notice this time. "Hey," he said. "That's it!"

The poliwag blinked at him. "Poliwag?"

"I have a perfect name for you," Dorian said, grinning. "I'm going to call you Pepper."

The newly baptized Pepper stared at him. In his mind, he slowly processed the human words. _Call._ Okay, another one of those keywords. _You._ He knew that meant himself, after a year of dealing with kids yelling "Hey, you, ATTACK!" So that meant…the poliwag gurgled a bubble.

He was now Pepper.

He didn't even know what "Pepper" meant, but he didn't mind. He knew that all the strong pokemon at the Academy had nicknames.

Did that mean that he was now strong?

"Poli!" Pepper said enthusiastically.

"Great, so we finally agreed on something," Dorian said, smirking. "Maybe I do have the making of a pokemon master after all," he added hopefully, as he reached for his pack.

Unsurprisingly, he got another bolt of water gun, this time for stepping on Pepper's tail.

- - -

Dorian and Pepper spotted the zigzagoon when it was beginning to get dark, when they were thankfully nearing Aquamarine Town. The two weary travelers were about to collapse—and Pepper about to dash into the nearest hotdog stand—when a zigzagoon appeared out of the blue.

It wasn't a particularly large zigzagoon, but it was very alert and had very bright eyes. Dorian decided that it had to be pretty strong and resolved to catch it.

"Come on, Pepper," he said, snatching Pepper as the poliwag attempted to reach the hotdog stand, "I'll get you _two_ hotdogs later if you could catch me that zigzagoon."

Pepper whined, but did not bother struggling as Dorian ran back out the town after the zigzagoon. "Kids," Dorian heard a few women mutter after he bumped into them, but he didn't care as he dived into a bush after the zigzagoon.

"Come on, Pepper, use water gun!"

Pepper whined again. He was tired. He'd wasted most of his water guns to annoy the boy. But the boy said something about hotdogs. So, he opened his mouth, and let forth a burst of bubbles. It wasn't as strong as the water gun, but the zigzagoon was knocked to the ground.

"All right!" Dorian said. "Now try…I dunno, try something else!"

Pepper stared at him. _What_ was that boy getting at? There was no attack called "something else". The zigzagoon took the moment of hesitation to give Pepper a solid tackle, so that Pepper stumbled into the bushes.

Angrily, Pepper glared at the zigzagoon, who was charging again. But suddenly, it stopped. Dorian watched, entranced, as his poliwag somehow managed to stop the zigzagoon in his steps, and made him fall asleep. He blinked at the sleeping zigzagoon before he acted. "Go, pokeball!" he shouted, throwing a pokeball he'd stolen from Sarah.

The pokeball hit the zigzagoon and absorbed it inside. It wobbled only three times before the zigzagoon stopped shaking.

"All right!" Dorian shouted, jumping up, fatigue forgotten. He snatched the pokeball and held it up into the air. "All right, I got a zigzagoon!"

When he tried to do the victory pose, Pepper released a bubble at him. "Poliwag!"

It didn't take too long, not this time, for Dorian to figure out what Pepper wanted to say. His own stomach was growling. "Three hotdogs for you, Pepper!" he shouted joyfully, as he ran back into the town, knocking into a few more people.

Pepper followed quickly. He wasn't missing out on _that_.

- - -

"Release, Donna, Devin!"

The pair of delcatty lightly dropped to the floor as the two control balls burst open. Sarah waited a few seconds before they were fully materialized.

"I poured you two some milk in the kitchen," she cooed to them. "Go on and have some supper."

They did not move. Donna meowed lazily and sprang onto Sarah's bed, as if she'd rather stay.

"Well, sure, if you want to wait for me," Sarah said, beginning to brush her hair. "It'll only be for a moment, okay?"

She got no response. Sarah turned to look at the two pokemon, who looked back at her inquiringly. Something about their eyes, however, seemed especially intense.

Sarah turned back to the mirror and tried to concentrate on her hair, but for some reason, the hair on the back of her neck prickled.

-

_A/N:_ Okay then. I'm excited. The **rising action** has begun! (dances that she used a literary term)

Ahem. I hope nobody minded Pepper's name, because I actually thought that was adorable. (blush) And I need to apologize to poor Tyler. First he got that poliwag stolen from him, then he got punished, and now something bad happened to him, and he never had a chapter titled after him! But yes, that _is_ his last real appearance, although you will know what happen to him and Furball in time. As for the whole control ball business…(enigmatic cackle)

As I mentioned in my first notes, I'm introducing so many OC's for a reason. However, usually the ones mentioned in passing, like Steph and Melissa (from chapter two), play no major part other than fillers.

Oh, and if it isn't obvious enough by now—Dorian is Professor Chambers' son. I accidentally gave it away in the first chapter…

Well, like in the last two chapters, point out mistakes, be it grammatical, syntactical, or plot-ical (wink). I take your advices very seriously as I _will_ revise.

Thank you for taking the time!

Love, SunLight

Thanks to the reviewers of Ch.2:

**fang—**typos? Eep. You must point them out! Thanks! And trust me, it'll be very different, soon enough.

**Negrek**—you didn't tell me I spelled your name wrong! (apologetic) I must've been hallucinating or something, sorry about that. Thanks for pointing all these mistakes out. I must proofread more carefully (blush). And about the breeding…well, if it makes you feel less guilty, my sister is MUCH worse with her three boxes of eevees. Those crazy game designers…

**Moonrabbit2—**I know, I know, chapter two isn't that well-written. I think I'm still getting the hang of introducing so many darn characters.


	4. Four: Gym Leader Katrina

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ Bah. Weird chapter because took me a while to convince Dorian to go to Obsidian…

-

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**Four**

Aquamarine Town was strange, though not in a sense that could be described. It had a Pokemon Center and a Pokemon Market, like any other place; and it had its shares of native trainers, sedentary townsperson, and curious visitors, like everywhere else.

Perhaps it was because it lacked an ancient history, like the other towns and cities. After all, any map thatwas more than fifty years oldwould not show this town. To an outsider, it almost seemed as if the town sprung up in response to an overwhelming number of trainers in the area.

But still it made little sense. For most of the year, save spring, Aquamarine was isolated and quiet, inhabited by elder townspeople who were older than the town itself.

However, nobody really bothered to figure out this alleged discrepancy. And nobody could, even if he tried, since the answer lay within the surrounding mountains.

-

Dorian stayed in Aquamarine Town longer than he'd anticipated. It wasn't his fault, really. An eleven-year-old boy could hardly resist the temptations of the Rain Festival, an annual ceremony honoring the legendary Suicune. How could he concentrate on training when the whole town was busy frolicking about in the streets?

Besides, Pepper and the zigzagoon sure weren't thinking about training either. They preferred to eat free samples and play with the other pokemon. Often, in the evenings, Dorian would find the two of them unwilling to return to the Center because they were too busy flirting with the local females. Usually, it took a lot of yelling and pleading to convince them that no, he wouldn't leave the town just yet, and yes, they could play with their girlfriends again the next day.

Therefore, with all the confusion caused by the festival, a week passed before he resolved to head onto Obsidian Town.

Dorian woke early the next morning to get ready. In order to placate a grumpy Pepper (and to keep his wallet from utterly expiring), he promised that he would snag potato chips from the Center for snacks on the way. Which was how he and Pepper found themselves in the empty dining hall, stuffingthe packwith food, when theyheard Nurse Joy's voice.

"Hello?"

The boy and the poliwag exchanged a look. _Uh-oh._

Fortunately, it was just a false alarm.

"Hello? This is Nurse Joy from the Aquamarine Pokemon Center…yes, he asked me to contact him early…please put him on…"

Dorian relaxed significantly. He turned his attention back to the bags of chips and cans of soda in the basket, but Pepper hurried over to the door, as if he were interested in the conversation. Dorian rolled his eyes; Pepper probably learned to be nosy from that female marril he'd been spending his time with.

"…good morning…well, yes, it's about the application you sent me last week…about the gym…"

Dorian's ears perked up. A gym, eh? _Maybe she's about to divulge some hidden secrets about how to cream a gym!_ he thought optimistically, joining Pepper at the wall. He thought he could divulge the distant voice of the man on the videophone.

"Has it been approved yet?"

"Well, the construction has been approved by Officer Jenny, but you need a pass from the League to officially run the gym. That way, you can issue official league badges."

"But the construction _has_ been approved? You are certain?"

"Yes. You may begin building it today if you wish. However, your gym is rather close to Obsidian's, and there's a rule against too many gyms in rural areas, so I'm not sure if the League will—"

"It will. Thank you very much."

Then there was a click. Whoever it was hung up.

"Poli, poli," Pepper suddenly said, startling Dorian.

"Stop scaring me like that!" Dorian said, making a face. The poliwag made a face right back. "I'm _not_ copying your idea…well, it wasn't very helpful _anyway_," he said, returning to his chips and sodas.

-

"It's been approved? Already?" Mary said, surprised.

Russell shook his head slightly. "Only the construction."

Mary bit her lips. "Well, that means very little," she said. "You know kids these days. They aren't going to challenge a gym in the mountains unless it issues official badges."

"It's going to," Russell said calmly.

"How do you know?" demanded Mary. "Obsidian is only three miles away from where this one is going to be set up. The League doesn't like to have two gyms so close to each other. Even if the League does approve, it's going to take a while for the approvals to be issued. _In fact_, I heard that the—"

"Mary, Mary," said Russell, "I can _guarantee_ that the gym will open and run in time to fall in pace with everything else."

Mary snorted. "How?"

Russell grinned. "Those fools at the League are biased, but they aren't going to pass up a gym that uses a whole new type of pokemon…"

-

Dorian looked around, scowling. The mountain was high and difficult to climb, sure, but it didn't offer a good view, like Pepper promised.

And goodness, _why_ did the poliwag have to laugh so obviously?

"All right, Pepper," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I see Aquamarine on my left…and stupid trees everywhere else. Do _you_ see a gym? If you don't, STOP GIGGLING!"

Pepper rolled his eyes. "Poli, poliwag!" he said impatiently, pointing with his tail.

Dorian squinted his eyes. What _was_ that structure? "No," he said, having identified it finally. "It's just some weird tower. I doubt that's a gym."

"Poli, poli!"

"Wait, hold on…" Dorian said, frowning at the tower…

Was that smoke coming out? _Where have I seen this before?_ Dorian wondered, trying to remember where he'd seen a picture similar to that. He knew he had…it was in one of Sarah's picture books…speaking of which, it reminded him of—

A squirt of water gun hit his face. "POLIWAG!" shouted the poliwag, stamping his feet impatiently.

"All right, all right," Dorian said. "You know, your way of getting my attention is truly awe-inspiring." He shook his head. "Here. You lead the way, and if we get lost, no potato chips for you tonight!"

It turned out that poliwag had excellent sense of direction. Somehow—_probably through pure luck,_ Dorian thought sourly—Pepper managed to lead his trainer down the mountain and throughthe gnarled paths that lead from Aquamarine, right into the small and quaint town of Obsidian. In fact, the poliwag didn't stop until he and his trainer were standing directly in front of the gym.

-

The gym was much simpler than the Rustboro Gym. In fact, it looked more like an oversized barn, with no decorations save a relatively new plaque which bore the words, OBSIDIAN GYM. It sounded quiet inside, so Dorian supposed that nobody was battling yet.

"Poliwag, poliwag," Pepper said, an evil glint in his large eyes. He toed the door meaningfully. "Liwag?"

Dorian gulped. It was quite embarrassing when your pokemon could tell that you were nervous…no, make that downright scared. He took a deep breath; obviously he wasn't about to prove Pepper right. _Here I go,_ he thought, and pushed the door open slightly. Through the crack, he could see that it was very bright instead.

He opened the door all the way and stepped inside. When his eyes had adjusted to the glaring lights, he found that he was already standing in the arena. There was no gym leader in sight, although there was a girl reading something in the far corner.

"Umm," Dorian said, for lack of a better thing to say.

"Is that a challenger?" the girl said, looking up. She looked a bit unsettled. "I haven't had many challengers this week…you _are_ a challenger, yes?"

"Yes," Dorian said, a little braver now. She was just as scared as he was. Besides, she barely looked older than Anne, so she was probably weak too. "I'm challenging you for a…er…" He paused. "What badge is it again?"

The girl scratched her head. "You know, you're the first one who asked me that," she said. "I just call it the Obsidian Badge. It's not like it matters what it's called…what time is it?"

Dorian checked his watch. "It's not even noon yet."

The girl relaxed. "Oh, good, so let's just battle now and get it over with," she said, her voice still shaky. "Umm, so like, my name is Katrina and I'm like, the gym leader of Obsidian. Mm, like, I use bug-type pokemon, because they have, like, characteristics that help them overcome their poor stats." She suddenly looked to her right, where there was a clock. "Well, like, so…let's just get the battle started, shall we? How many pokemon do you have?"

"Two...but they are very strong!"Dorianadded self-righteously.

"So I've heard," Katrina said, still distracted. "Okay, like, I choose nincada!"

A small bug pokemon appeared in the center of the arena, waving his pincers. Dorian began to yell for Pepper to attack, but suddenly remembered something. "Wait, don't we need a judge or someone?"

Katrina blinked. "Well, like, my trainer is like, out today. So, like, let's do the battling differently," she said. "Basically, you have three chances to attack each of my pokemon." She coughed, and her voice grew more businesslike. "If you manage to faint it in three turns, then you have defeated the pokemon. If you don't, then your pokemon lose and you have to select your second one. If neither of them can do anything to my pokemon, then I win and you don't get a badge." Her courage suddenly faltered again, and her eyes flickered to the clock. "So, like, that okay?"

"That doesn't seem fair," Dorian said.

"Listen, like, this nincada is level five for a reason," Katrina said. "Just…like, just get going, all right?"

Dorian thought for a moment. He was pretty sure Pepper was higher than level five. Besides, he remembered that nincada did not like water attacks. "Well, go on, Pepper," he said after clearing his throat. "Just use the strongest water gun and bubble attack you have."

Pepper looked at him. "Poli?"

"Just do it!" shouted Dorian.

Dorian wasn't surprised when his offended poliwag shot a water gun at him before targeting the nincada. The nincada reeled when the water touched him. True to Katrina's words, it was quite weak. It didn't manage to dodge any of the water guns, and it fainted within two turns.

"Poli," Pepper said, satisfied.

Katrina glanced at the clock again. "Okay, like, go shedinja!"

Dorian regarded this new pokemon curiously. He'd never seen anything like it. If he didn't know better, he would've thought that it was a shell of some sort. But then it began to move and its eyes opened and its mouth opened grotesquely. Dorian gulped. Pepper backed away a little, obviously a little daunted as well.

"Look, this shedinja has, like, one hit point," Katrina said, noticing Dorian's hesitancy. "If you don't, like, kill her in one shot, then you don't. If you do, you get the badge. Like, hurry up?"

"Um," Dorian said. "Water gun!"

Pepper released the attack at the shedinja, but nothing happened. The water gun didn't seem to reach the shedinja. There was a glowing sort of shield around the bug.

"Try again!"

Pepper heaved a deep breath and released a stronger attack this time, but still nothing happened. He grew angry. "Poliwag!" he shouted, as he dashed toward the shedinja. There wasn't a glowing shield this time, but nor was damage done to shedinja. Pepper merely fell _through_ the pokemon.

"Three turns, so like, next pokemon," Katrina said. "By the way, if, like, your next type happens to know any attack that _isn't_ fire, flying, dark, rock, or ghost, then I suggest you give up." She steadied her voice. "Shedinja can't be hit by any attacks that isn't super-effective against her, just thought you should know."

_What?_

Dorian lost his temper. "Then what's the point of telling me I have three chances to take it out?" he said. "You're playing with me! What kind of a gym leader does that? Roxanne wouldn't do it, and she's much, much stronger than you!"

Katrina whitened at Roxanne's name, but she held her ground. "Listen, I'm sorry it has to go like this," she said, "but that's that. You had your chance. The gym is closing. Now. Like, got that? If you want another chance at a normal battle, see me next week or like, something. You can get, like, your badge then."

"Then just give me the badge now!" Dorian shouted, stamping the floor.

Pepper agreed, for once. "Poliwag, poliwag, wag!" he said angrily.

But Katrina was not doting Mrs. Chambers. She shook her hand impatiently. "Like, forget it, just _go_," she said, turning away. "I've got no time to deal with you." She sighed in exasperation when Dorian and Pepper refused to budge. "Listen, my shedinja can, like, suck out souls. So, if you want to, like, end up a _shell_, you better get your sorry butts going."

Dorian's lower lip quivered, but he managed to not cry. "Fine," he snapped. "Come on, Pepper. We'll get her later!"

His hopes of a stylish exit were dashed when he realized that Pepper had taken off running already. With a frustrated groan, Dorian hurried after him.

With her challenger gone, Katrina looked down at the letter again. "Return, Gwendolen," she said, crumpling the paper now. "We need to go, _now_."

-

Despondently, Dorian sat in the Pokemon Center, fuming. For some reason, he didn't think it was fair that Katrina used such a strong pokemon against him.

If he'd known about shedinja, he would've stolen Sarah's combusken instead of a poliwag!

Dorian looked over angrily at Pepper, who was recounting the gym battle to zigzagoon, but he found he didn't have the urge to give Pepper a solid kick. After all…

_Hey, wait a minute!_

Nobody ever said that someone had to _earn_ a badge by battling only!

Dorian stood up and looked over at the gym. Sure enough, there were windows near the back door, which didn't seem to have a lock on it.

He grinned to himself.

Surely a gym leader wouldn't take her badges on a trip, now would she? Surely a gym leader wouldn't take a day trip. _Maybe a midnight visit to her gym was in order,_ Dorian thought evilly, no longer feeling so awful.

It turned out that someone else shared his idea.

-

_A/N:_ . Not the most engaging gym battle, I'll admit, and Gym Leader Katrina is a little off, no? Heh, heh…but she _did_ get a freaky letter…

Oh, here's a geography question that confuses me…where _is_ Hoenn? I think Ash reaches there by a ferry from Pallet. But if you go down (or right) of Pallet, that goes to Cinnabar; if you go up, that's Viridian; and if you go left, that's Johto. If anyone can explain to a befuddled me…I would be forever grateful!

Thank you for taking the time to read and (hopefully) review! Gee, I must be giving you guys callous (sp?) or something…

Love, SunLight

Thanks to the reviewers of Ch.3:

**Kawaii Kitsune Club—**I didn't mean to go into the breeding so much, but it works for later. But I'm sort of hypocritical because I abuse the breeding center myself…(blush)

**Keleri—**thank you. : )

**Facia—**you mean Pepper's pokeball, right? Well, (and this is just my theory) I think that pokemon can only go into a new pokeball when 1) their old one breaks (sort of like Ash's snorlax during the orange island arc) or 2) when the old one is somehow disposed of (like its energy shut down) and the pokemon is put into a new ball. That's basically how I explain why Dorian can't just put Pepper in another pokeball.

**fang—**yea, I'm doing better. .

**Negrek**—Roxanne's ship…must be a mistake. I need to look over my notes to figure that out. Oh no, it's _good_ you're nitpicky. After all, it's my fault that I didn't catch those mistakes. Glad you like the nickname.

**Moonrabbit2—**thanks : P.


	5. Five: Mysterious Mickey

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ Things begin happening. No, seriously.

-

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**Five**

The mudkip was in critical condition. There were scratches all over him and he was favoring his right paw. And he looked to be terrified, since he was cowering in the grass, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. Yet the growlithe circled him, growling, refusing to let Officer Jenny near him.

There was a smell on the mudkip that he could not identify. Sort of like a pokemon, and sort of different. For some reason, the growlithe instinctively felt danger.

Officer Jenny stood over the two pokemon, rapidly losing patience. She knew that her growlithe needed to be cautious, but she could tell that the mudkip needed immediate attention. She also wanted to examine the backpack of the missing trainer, which she'd found nearby. She wanted to run DNA tests and try to get fingernail samples as soon as possible.

"We have to go, growlithe," Officer Jenny said. "We need to get to the station _now_."

The growlithe reluctantly stepped away from the mudkip, still growling. But no matter, he decided. Once the mudkip was better, he would question him himself.

-

Pepper staunchly refused to come with him, probably unwilling to revisit the Gym or to forgive Dorian for losing. When even chocolate bribery didn't work, Dorian grew annoyed and decided to take his zigzagoon. After all, zigzagoon had better eyes and could probably see better in the darkness, not to mention he had the nimbleness that Pepper lacked. If Dorian ran into trouble, he would be a good help.

Originally, Dorian had planned to climb through the back window, but it turned out to be unnecessary, since the front door was ajar. Dorian found this surprising, since he remembered slamming the door after him, but then again, Katrina probably forgot to lock it in her hurry to leave.

The inside of the gym was dark, but with the moonlight filtrating in through cracks, Dorian's eyes soon adjusted. He could see a door beyond the arena where he'd battled earlier, which probably led to other chambers. One of them had to be a storage room, where the badges—and probably Katrina's gym pokemon—should be.

A couple of doors later, Dorian found himself heading underground into what seemed to be a musty room. It was too dark to see, so he turned on his flashlight. Yes, it was the cellar all right, filled with many shelves. Some of them seemed dusty and unused—very strange for a relatively new gym—while others were much waxier.

Dorian took a deep breath. So maybe he'd stolen candies from friends and a pokemon from Tyler, and maybe homework from Sarah before, but he never attempted something as illegal as this. And he didn't think he was a bad kid, not with a professor for a father and businesswoman for a mother. For a moment, he stood and wondered if he should just leave, and challenge Katrina again later.

_No,_ he decided stubbornly, choosing a random box to sift through, _you deserve the badge and you have come too far._

It would be lying to say that Dorian was not afraid at all, but he certainly hadn't been thinking about getting caught until he heard creaks on the floorboards, followed by faint voices.

"…I swear I heard someone…"

Snapping off his flashlight immediately, a very tense Dorian carefully closed the box and began to feel his way deeper into the shelves. The room was very large, and if he were lucky, he might be able to find some place to squat and hide till whoever he was—or they were—left.

However, Dorian didn't find his hiding place; instead, his knees knocked into boxes on the floor, and he decided to hide behind the box instead.

All was silent for a few seconds more before Dorian heard footsteps heading down into the cellar. His breath hitched. He'd never been really _caught_ stealing before, and he had no idea what would happen to him if Katrina found out. What if she used her shedinga or whatever that thing was called to suck out his soul?

"I didn't hear anything," a man said, breaking into Dorian's frantic thoughts. So there _was_ more than one person. "You did?"

"No, not really. I mean, just to make sure, you _did_ say she's out of town?" answered the first voice.

"That's what I heard at the Center, but you never know. It's not like Nurse Joy comes here herself."

There were now sounds of movement. Through the rows of shelves, Dorian saw glimmers of lights. _Flashlights._

"What _are_ we coming here for? Not to play hide-and-seek with her, I hope!"

"No, we're looking for these papers. You know the business with the League will be easier once we get her blacklisted."

"But the bitch keeps so many boxes. How the hell are we to know which boxes?"

"Search every one, of course. Bob and Nancy will come and join us later, after they make sure that everyone at the Center is asleep."

Dorian gritted his teeth. This didn't look good at all. If they were going to search the entire place, sooner or later they would find him. And he didn't know what would happen if they did. He might get caught, might get sent to prison, might have to give up zigzagoon and Pepper, might have to—

Wait a second. He didn't bring his zigzagoon here for nothing!

He thought fast. His zigzagoon should be willing to cause a diversion; even though Dorian hadn't really spent much time with him, he'd taken care of him as well as he did with Pepper. Besides, his zigzagoon was more docile, definitely easier to convince than Pepper.

_Okay,_ Dorian thought, as he listened to the conversation, _I'm going to release zigzagoon, announce a sand-attack, and then sneak while the zigzagoon distracts them. Then I'll just tell the zigzagoon to meet me at the Center!_

With his plan decided, Dorian released zigzagoon. Luckily, the men were talking rather loudly, and did not hear the sound of the materializing pokemon. "Zigzagoon," Dorian said, cautiously petting his pokemon. The zigzagoon blinked up at him serenely. "I need you to distract the two men over there, okay?"

The zigzagoon looked, saw the lights, and seemed to consider.

"Just use your sand-attack to blind them, and then follow me to the Pokemon Center," continued Dorian. "Okay?"

Dorian was glad that he was born a leader. He just had that talent of forcing others to agree. The zigzagoon nodded.

"Okay, now, GO!"

"How's the plan supposed to work? Did anyone fill you in?"

"No, all they do is give orders. Screw the gym so we can build another. If you ask me, we could just screw that girl and take this gym."

"But didn't she—WHAT?"

Dorian began crawling when he saw the two flashlights rolling on the floor. He silently thanked his feisty zigzagoon. The men were too occupied with the sand attack that the pokemon was using to notice anything else. Quickly, Dorian made it to the stairs and, without another thought, he ran.

It seemed like forever, but Dorian made it to the Pokemon Center within ten minutes. He paused and huffed outside for a while, before he went inside. Nurse Joy, conversing with two strangers, waved at him friendlily, and pointed to the clock with a shake of her head. The other two looked around briefly at him, but didn't find him to be of much interest. Dorian ducked his head as he sat on the benches, waiting for his pokemon to return. He desperately hoped that these two visitors weren't the Bob and Nancy the men were talking about.

The zigzagoon turned up a few minutes later. Muttering a quick "goodnight" to nobody in particular, Dorian snatched up his zigzagoon and dashed into his room to hide under his covers. Though he was still frightened by the close shave, his pounding heart soon calmed, and the tired boy fell asleep.

-

"Good morning, everyone," began the announcement that awakened the Obsidian Pokemon Center. "Due to an investigation going on below, please refrain from leaving your room. Chansey will be around in a while to provide you with breakfast. Thank you, and have a wonderful morning!"

Still very sleepy, Dorian yawned as he sat up on his bed, rubbing his eyes. So. A police investigation. And here he thought that Obsidian was too boring for any kind of excitement.

Speaking of excitement…

Dorian suddenly felt more awake, remembering what happened the night before. He looked quickly at his zigzagoon, who was dozing in the corner with Pepper. He looked to be unscathed, so the two men probably didn't have a chance to do anything to him. All Dorian needed to do now was to make sure that the zigzagoon stayed out of sight for a few days, just in case the men came to the Center, and then everything should be fine.

The rest of the morning was boring. Chansey swung by, as promised, to deliver the morning meal of toast, eggs, and pokemon chow. Dorian and his pokemon ate breakfast and went on to their own activities.

When noon came, there was another announcement, basically saying that the investigation was over and that everyone could come down again.

Dorian was one of the first ones to leave, purely because he wanted to really go around and see Obsidian, rather than sneaking into the gym at night. However, when he reached the first floor landing, he froze.

The voices drifting from the waiting area were all too familiar.

Dorian looked down at zigzagoon apologetically. "Sorry, but you need to go into your pokeball for a while," he said. "I'll let you out later."

The zigzagoon nodded, allowing himself to be returned without much trouble. It was a good thing that Dorian remembered, because an instant later, he found himself face to face with a beefy man who just came out of the waiting room. "Hello," said the man, nodding at Dorian and the nearby trainers.

_Yes, definitely one of the two guys._

Dorian and the others stammered and nodded in reply.

"Say, I was just wondering," the man said, looking around, "did any of you happen to have challenged the gym leader here? What's her face…Katrina?"

When nobody said anything, Dorian said shakily, "I…I did."

"You did, now…" The large man looked thoughtful. "Say, what pokemon did she use?"

"A…a nincada," Dorian said, not mentioning the shedinja because he forgot the pokemon's name.

"That's all?" The man sounded disappointed.

"Well, and also, um, a ghost bug," Dorian said. "I don't remember its name."

"Shedinja, perhaps?"

"Yes, that's it!" Dorian said. "A shedinja."

The man smiled triumphantly. "You mind if you come with me for a few seconds?" he said. "Name's Mickey, by the way. Don't worry. Ain't anything too scary. You're helping a very important investigation, that's what you're doing!"

"Er," Dorian said uncertainly, but since Pepper was already following the man, he had no choice but to follow.

-

Dorian looked around the waiting room in amazement. He'd never seen so many Officer Jenny in one place! Since the investigation was over, most of them were chatting with Nurse Joy, while a few of them were putting on their jackets, getting ready to leave.

He gulped, wishing that none of them happened to be from the Rustboro Station. Even if his mother did pay the money, he still didn't want to risk anything…

Before Dorian could sneak out, a Jenny who appeared to the leader noticed the two of them. She hurried over, her eyes narrowed. "You shouldn't go and involve another trainer," she said quietly.

"But this is our proof, because this kid here, he challenged _her_."

"What?" she said, looking at Dorian curiously. "Did he really…?"

"He's a challenger, all right," Mickey said, thumping Dorian's shoulder so hard he nearly fell over. "And he said that Katrina _did_ use a shedinja."

Jenny's eyes widened and she turned to Dorian severely. "Are you sure she did?" she said.

Dorian nodded nervously, both excited and scared to be part of this investigation. "Yeah, she did," he said. "You can ask Pepper—that's my poliwag—if you want."

Pepper nodded hard, still reeling from the defeat.

"So the reports are true," Jenny muttered to herself. "Well now, thank you very much," she said, and Dorian wasn't sure if she were addressing himself or Mickey. "However, I'd advise against more of this vigilante business, if you know what I'm talking about," she added in a low tone to Mickey, before she rejoined the other Jenny.

"Hey, thanks, kid," Mickey said, flashing Dorian a thumbs-up. "You have no idea what a great thing you helped us do."

"Umm, you're welcome," mumbled Dorian, leaving the waiting room as fast as he could, unable to shake off a feeling that he'd just done something very bad.

-

"It's done, she's arrested, and the League has approved our charter."

"Why are you telling _me_ this?"

"You remember our deal, I hope."

Roxanne drummed her fingers on the smooth mahogany table, biting her lips. "Very well," she said. "As soon as the control balls hit the market."

There was a click.

He had hung up.

-

_A/N:_ This chapter is a little different, because it's actually more focused on action (finally!) than description. The good news is, all the setups are done. So. If you guessed what the balls do from what happened to Tyler, then I congratulate you. They are released in the next chapter and it'll soon become _very_ obvious what they do. If you guessed what's up with the gym, then I offer you cookies. The gym gets its first challenger, and it won't take you long to figure out what's up.

All of these, however, are the "what?" questions. (Hint.)

Hopefully, you found this chapter a little less slow than the others, and hopefully, my background chapters haven't sent you into the ground snoring. ) I welcome your comments, _greatly_!

Love, SunLight

Thanks to the reviewers of Ch.4:

**fang—**Dorian is very complex, and the stealing you referred to had a secondary purpose. The background is done, so I hope you find this chapter faster.

**Keleri-**) I like him for being dysfunctional too.

**skyzero**—no, this takes place around five to ten years after Ash's rise to glory, so he's not appearing. It's funny, you know; I don't like Tyler very much either. Hmmm, I suppose it does show in my writing.

**Negrek**—after rereading, the descriptions in four could do with a lot of tweaking. The un-spaced words aren't the version I uploaded, so hopefully it's not my fault. As for Joy's comment about Katrina, (and this is only implied, to be explained later) she didn't register Gwendolen as a gym pokemon. My email is phoenixsparkles at yahoo dot com. (FFN probably stripped my characters.) Thanks for offering to explain to me. That story is truly incredibly cool.


	6. Six: The tragedy of Jimmy

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Pokemon. This is merely a piece of fanfiction that I write to procrastinate. I am not making any money off this, nor do I wish to. I own only the plot and my original characters, which you probably don't want to claim anyway. Please do not sue.

_A/N:_ A repost, because of several minor changes.

Late update. Beginning section is weird. Feel free to skip, although some information comes into play in later chapters.

**When the Night Conquers**

—SunLight—

**Six**

"…was discovered on the route near Meteor Falls, although no trace of the trainer, besides his bag, could be found. For the time being, the supposed cause of the boy's disappearance, as well as possible culprits, is still unknown. If anyone has any information, please call the nearest police headquarters.

"On a happier note, today marks the opening sale of control balls, developed by the Chambers Laboratory. Not only that, but we have one of Professor Chambers' lab assistants, Russell Willis. Good morning, Mr. Willis. Glad to have you at the station with us."

"My pleasure."

"I'm sure all of us in the community are very excited about the release of the lab's newest products. We remember how wonderful the Time Watch had been, a few years ago. However, here's a question I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering. We believed that the ball is to be released next month, but—"

"You're wondering why we're releasing it two weeks early. Very simply, we have had unforeseen success during the mass production and the testing, and we have enough supplies to fill the shelves of the major pokemon markets. Also, in case anyone is wondering, the quality of the balls remains sublime. Our technology has ensured that each ball gets the attention the prototypes have gotten."

"That's very good to hear. Also, this may be a rumor, but we heard that Chambers Laboratory has teamed up with the Devon Corporation to provide upgrades."

"That's very true, and we thank Mr. Stone profusely for his help."

"Please clarify what the upgrades mean."

"With pleasure. Basically, the idea is that with a small fee, one can put a pokeball containing a pokemon into the machine and receive a control ball containing that pokemon. Meanwhile, the pokeball will be recycled to make more control balls. This is just an example, of course. The machine works on any other ball, with the possible exception of master balls. Right now, we're hoping that eventually, the control balls will replace all the other balls on markets."

"There it is, trainers! The sale begins in exactly one hour. Go to the nearest city and get the balls! Coupons will be given to the first hundred buyers! Thank you for your time, Mr. Willis.

"Onto other news, the trial of Gym Leader Katrina Brine has been scheduled for next week…"

"This is the place, kids!" Mickey announced, stopping in front of the usually overlooked PokéMart. "You're in luck! Be among the first hundred to enter!"

Dorian was the last one to move, allowing others to brush by, simply because he didn't want to come. He wasn't interested in the control balls. It didn't really excite him that the Obsidian PokéMart had decided to import them. After all, he'd stopped being impressed with his father's inventions after realizing that his opinion didn't really matter anyway. His father had numerous fanbases to provide him with all the support he would ever need.

"What's wrong, kid?" Mickey said, frowning at him. "Don't want control balls?"

Dorian jumped at Mickey's voice. He was scared of him. Even though he wasn't the most perceptive of kids, he could tell that something was horribly wrong with that man and his friends. After all, normal people wouldn't be so manipulative. Normal people wouldn't forcefully keep the trainers at the Center until the release of control balls and herd them into the store. _Normal_ people would _not_ allow them to leave on the condition that they challenge the new gym.

But Dorian didn't want to argue with Mickey. Exchanging a look with Pepper, he mumbled a reply and hurried after the others toward the market.

Getting into the store was not easy. Even if Dorian had been willing, there were too many people gathered around the front doors to push through. He hadn't known that Obsidian contained so many people. Luckily, after a few shoves and elbows from the eager trainers beside him, Dorian found him jostled into the store, Pepper whining somewhere in his hood.

Dorian stumbled and fell on the floor, scrambling out of the wave of people just in time. He wheezed and stood up, and looked around the store.

It seemed as if all the merchandise besides control balls were removed. All he could see were the balls his father had been developing for the last couple of months. The balls appeared to have come in many different packages. Big ten-ball ensemble, complete with a guidebook. Smaller gift boxes that contained three, with a heart shaped bow. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Even the release of premier and luxury balls hadn't stirred the markets that much!

"Hey kid, you're in luck! Here, here's your coupon," someone beside him said, shoving a handful of papers in his hands. "Go and buy some balls!"

Mumbling a quick "thanks", Dorian tried to make his way somewhere when someone grabbed his arm. "C'mere, kid. You want to buy some control balls, don't you? I see some coupons!"

"Er, yeah," said Dorian. "Give me one."

"One?" The salesman's face loomed into view. His expression was that of sincere disbelief. "You can't just take one! This is such a big sale! It's an opportunity of a lifetime!"

"But…"

"But nothing," the salesman said. "According to the coupons, you could get a ten-ball set…for free! I can even upgrade your pokeballs for you. How's that for a deal?"

"Um sure, that's great," Dorian said, wanting to get away as soon as possible. Maybe he could leave before Mickey… "Listen, about the upgrade, I don't think I need one—"

"Nonsense! Give me your poliwag's pokeball!" the salesman said, dragging Dorian toward a machine that looked like a trading machine, except it was purple instead of red.

"Pepper doesn't have one," Dorian said, "but I do have a zigzagoon that—"

The ball was taken out of his hand before he could say anything. He blinked as the salesman practically threw the ball into the slot of the machine. Dorian stared, open-mouthed, at the churning machine with its blinking lights. Then it was suddenly over. He felt a ball and a package pressed into his hands, and the salesman had disappeared to take another trainer.

"There you are!"

Mickey had appeared, looking as shrewd as ever.

"You're done? Everyone else is waiting. Thought I lost you!" he said, and Dorian didn't realize he'd been taking so long. "Awesome!" he said, catching sight of Dorian's package. "An upgrade _and_ ten balls! That's my boy!"

And before Dorian could say anything else, he found himself dragged out of the shop.

"Why are you calling me again?" Roxanne demanded. "I've given out the coupons to my kids. I think that satisfies my end of the deal, don't you think?"

"Ah, but Roxie," said the silky voice on the other end of the phone, "one more request only secures your position more, you must understand…you _have_ heard the radio this morning…"

Roxanne bit her lips. "What do you want, then?" she barked.

"Send us a trainer."

"A trainer? There will be plenty. You give out badges. They'll come in flocks!"

"We need a trainer, Roxanne, and we suggest that you provide one for us. Preferably, your strongest."

He hung up.

Roxanne sighed, scanning her eyes over the roster of gym trainers. She selected the names of two trainers, and began to dial their dorm numbers.

The new gym did not look imposing. If Katrina's former gym looked like a barn, well, this new gym looked like a pigsty. It seemed to have been thrown together hurriedly, in overeager anticipation of challenging trainers. However, Dorian wasn't here to actually challenge the gym leader.

It was just an excuse to get out of Obsidian. With Nancy and Mickey guarding them like prisoners, and Joy and Jenny fooled into helping them, Dorian knew that he'd never get anywhere at that rate. This week, with all the excitement about control balls and whatnot, Mickey's friends were elsewhere, and so Dorian was able to come to the gym by himself.

In other words, he would just run away, right after he and Pepper satisfied their curiosity.

"It doesn't look too scary, does it?" Dorian said, looking the gym through his binoculars. "I mean, other than the fact that they use new pokemon and all. I wonder what they look like."

"Wag, wag," Pepper said, turning around. "Poliwag!"

"What?" Dorian looked. A tall boy accompanied by a mightyena was walking confidently toward the gym. "Oh boy, a challenger!"

Dorian and Pepper watched as he thumped on the brass door. Nothing happened for a few minutes, and then the door opened a creak. The boy seemed to be talking to someone. After a few more minutes, after the boy had showed his pokeballs and his badges, he and his mightyena walked inside.

Dorian grinned at Pepper. "Let's stay here till he finishes battling," he said. "I'm really curious to find out what the gym's using!"

Jimmy and Romulus looked around in amazement. From outside, the gym looked shabby and rundown, but inside, it looked pretty modern, with neon lights and mechanized platforms for the trainers. It also seemed to have a larger arena than necessary, but that only suited Jimmy more.

The woman who had opened the door for them, who appeared to be the referee, gestured around. "You're our first challenger, Jimmy," she said, her voice bubbly. "How do you like it?"

"What?" Jimmy said.

"The gym, of course," she gushed.

"Well, I haven't really gone to many gyms, but I must say I prefer the Rustboro Gym," Jimmy said generously. "But I'm not here to talk. I'm here to battle the gym leader."

"Of course. I'll get the gym leader right away. Please get yourself ready!"

The woman hurried off.

"You stay down here, okay?" Jimmy told Romulus, before making his way up the ladder.

The gym leader appeared just as Jimmy got onto the platform. Jimmy scrutinized him. His style was different from Roxanne's. While Roxanne was more ostentatious, wearing her uniform of bright colors and her hair in strange fashions, this man seemed to be shroud in darkness. Quite literally too, with his dark garments.

"One on one sounds okay?" rasped the gym leader, when he pulled himself onto his platform.

"More than," Jimmy answered curtly, wanting to get this over with so he could head on back. "I choose my mightyena! Get ready to use your shadow ball!"

The gym leader bowed his head and smiled. "I'm sorry, but the battle ends here," he said, drawing out a ball lovingly. "Go!"

The first thing that registered in Jimmy's mind was that the ball looked familiar in a novel way, but that soon became the least of his worries.

Time seemed to freeze as soon as the ball burst open. Jimmy could only stand, open-mouthed, as the creature materialized. He gave a shriek when he realized what it was. He continued to shriek as mightyena began howling in pain. He shrieked louder to drown out the gym leader's laughter. And he did not stop shrieking till the darkness vanquished him.

_A/N:_ (grin)

I've always loved cliffies, although this…well, another clue toward what the heck the control balls do. Any takers?

A simpler question, then: anyone got a guess on what the gym leader used? It actually isn't a new pokemon.

Please review! Keeps me going, you do. :)

Love, SunLight

Thanks to the reviewers of Ch.5:

**Facia—**well, everyone is basically involved here, though in vary degrees.

**Mythical Moonrabbit—**you think so?

**Keleri—**thankies!


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